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Admission Requirements And Programmes

ISTAC shall continue as a postgraduate research-oriented Institute which offers M.A. degrees by research and course work, and Ph.D. by research only. The objectives of ISTAC shall be as follows:

To provide postgraduate studies and research with the objective of training scholars and intellectual leaders to play creative roles in the restoration of Islamic thought and civilization to its rightful place.

To provide appropriate Islamic responses to the intellectual and cultural challenges of the modern world, and various schools of thought, ideologies, philosophies, and religions.

To publish the results of its researches and studies.

To establish a reference and research library reflecting the religious and intellectual traditions of Islamic and other civilizations.

AREAS OF RESEARCH AND CONCENTRATION

1. ISLAMIC AND OTHER CIVILIZATIONS

Sub-areas

1.1 Islamic Civilization : Nature, Formation and Development

1.2 The Qur’an and The Sunnah: Foundations of Islamic Personality, Society and Cultures

3.1 The Spiritual Teachings of al-Qur’an, Sunnah and Major Muslim Scholars

3.2 Tasawwuf and its Development in the Muslim World

3.3 Islamic Perspectives on Spiritual Health, Disease and Therapy

3.4 Deviant Teachings and Movements in the Muslim World

3.5 Comparative Spiritual Traditions and Systems

4. ISLAMIC SCIENCE

Sub-areas

4.1 History of Science :

4.1a. Islamic Science

4.1b. Western Science

4.2 Philosophy of Science

4.3 History of Islamic Medicine

4.4 Islamic Medical Ethics

4.5 Modern Science and Religion

5. THE CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM WORLD: REGIONS AND ISSUES

Sub-areas

5.1 Regions:

5.1.1 South-east Asia& The Malay World

5.1.2 Central Asia

5.1.3 The Balkans

5.1.4 Indo-Pakistan sub-continent

5.1.5 Sub-Saharan Africa

5.1.6 West Asia and North Africa

5.1.7 Muslims in the West

5.1.8 Muslim Minorities

5.2 ISSUES AND PROBLEMS: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

5.2.1 Disunity, Conflicts, Sectarianism

5.2.2 Corruption, Oppression, Mismanagement and Leadership problems

5.2.3 Terrorism, Radicalism, Fundamentalism, Extremism

5.2.4 Globalization and the Muslim World in the New Millennium

5.2.5 The encounter between Islam and Modern Western Civilization

5.2.6 Revival and Reform Movements in the Modern Muslim World

Programme Description

COURSES PROVISIONALLY OFFERED AT ISTAC :

I. COMPULSORY COURSES

1. IITC 6001/8001 - Research Methodology and Thesis Writing

The primary focus of this course is to introduce students to methods of research and the writing of a thesis. Different aspects of research will be taught by experts in various areas with special research competencies. Students will also be introduced to advanced writing skills by, among other things, exposing them to the writing styles of good or great writers.

2. IITC 6002/8002 - The Qur’an and The Sunnah: Foundations of Islamic Personality, Society and Culture

This course introduces students to the Islamic tawhidic worldview and its answers to the intellectual and spiritual issues posed by human life and its demands. Comparison of this worldview with secular and other philosophical worldviews will be given so as to bring into relief the special position of the Islamic worldview. Discussion will begin with the elucidation of the important position of the two supreme sources of the Islamic worldview and its tradition, the Qur’an and the Sunnah, followed by the features and characteristics of the Islamic worldview based on the expositions of major Muslim thinkers. Challenges, both from within and from without, will be taken into account.

II. ELECTIVE COURSES

3. IITC 6003/8003 - Islamic Spiritual Ethics and Morality

The purpose of this course is to expose students to the tradition of mainstream intellectual discourse of Muslim scholars and sages on the nature of spiritual ethics and morality and their importance in relation to human personality integration and salvation as well as in sound societal interrelations. Some comparisons with modern secular thought on the issue will be made.

4. IITC 6004/8004 - History of Islamic Economic Thought I

The concept, definition and classification of Islamic sources of economic thought followed by a study in the chronological order of the economic ideas of some major Muslim scholars from early Islamic history until modern times.

5. IITC 6005/8005 - History of Islamic Economic Thought II

The aim of this course is to familiarize students with classical Islamic sources of economic thought. Contrary to what has been held by many classical Islamic literature contains a considerable amount of material related to economics and allied sciences. Students will here be introduced to some of the classics in question.

6. IITC 6006/8006 - Oriental Philosophies

A survey of the religious traditions of the Orient, their philosophical-spiritual foundations, historical origins, development and their contemporary forms. Hinduism, Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism are studied based on scriptural and classical sources. Their encounter with Islam, Christianity and modernity is also studied

7. IITC 6007/8007 - Islam in Malay History and Culture

This course discusses the impact of Islam in the Malay world, especially its role in bringing about a new period in the history of the Malay Indonesian archipelago, and its influence in the rise of Malay intellectual and literary history, as well as the rise of the Malay language. Various theories on the coming of Islam, the question of periodization in Malay history and culture, and methodologies used by scholars to analyze the intellectual and historical events in this part of the world are also discussed

8. IITC 6009/8009 - The Philosophy of Modern Western Science and Technology

An analysis of major schools of philosophy of science in the West from the 19th century to the present, including Positivism and Phenome­nology, together with a survey of current studies and critiques of modem technology.

9. IITC 6010/8010 - History of Western Science

This course covers the history of Western science from the early Middle Ages, the influence of Islamic science on the West, the development of late Medieval and Renaissance science, and the Scientific Revolution and subsequent history of science to the present day with emphasis on the important landmarks in the history of physics, astronomy, and biology.

10. IITC 6011/8011 - Modern Science and Religion in the West

A critical study of the relationship between modern Western science and religion. Topics include the compatibility of physics and astrophysics with religion, the role of contingency for divine action, the theological implications of the unity, design, order and intelligibility of the universe, fine tuning, the big bang theory and the weak and strong anthropic principles.

11. IITC 6012/8012 - The Qur’ānic Foundation of Islamic Science

This course focuses on the study of those verses of the Holy Qur’ān which deal with the universe, natural phenomena, laws governing creation, and man’s relation with nature.

12. IITC 6013/8013 - History of Islamic Science

A survey of the history of Islamic science from the beginning to the present with emphasis on the development of mathematics, astronomy, optics, physics, alchemy and technology.

The course will include readings of selected works by prominent Muslim scientists and philosophers, including al-Fārābi, Ibn Sīnā, al-Ţūsī and Ibni al-Haytham.

13. IITC 6014/8014 - Islamic Art and its Philosophy

The meaning of art as seen from the Islamic point of view, the question of aniconic art, the absence of distinction between the arts and the crafts, the significance of symbolism, geometric patterns, arabesque and calligraphic decoration. The cosmological and spiritual principles and social background of Islamic Art.

14. IITC 6015/8015 - History of Islamic Art

Architecture, calligraphy, illumination, miniatures and house gardens. A survey of the various types of Islamic Art dealing with the meaning of forms, symbols, and images, and the history of each type of art as seen from the Islamic viewpoint.

15/16. IITC 6016/8016 - Elementary Arabic Text Reading I

& IITC 6017/8017 – Elementary Arabic Text Reading II

The goal of this two-semester sequence is the mastery of a core of vocabulary and the control of the basic syntactic and morphological structures of standard Arabic.

17/18. IITC 6018/8018 - Intermediate Arabic Text Reading I

& IITC 6019/8019 – Intermediate Arabic Text Reading II

This two-semester sequence course aims at preparing students for the understanding of basic texts written in both classical and modern standard Arabic.

19/20. IITC 6020/8020 - Advanced Arabic Text I

& IITC 6021/8021 – Advanced Arabic Text II

This course emphasizes the mastery of the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Special emphasis will be given to the students’ reading comprehension of authentic contemporary and classical Arabic texts.

This course will study a portion of the literary output of the Muslim world and cover the major literary genres. Selections will consist of classical and modern works.

22. IITC 6023/8023 - Principles of Governance in Islam

The basic theories and principles of government and administration in Islam are here examined in relation to the major institutions of government which have been evolved by Muslims from the Madinen State onwards including the Caliphate, Wizarah and Hisba on the one hand, and the political ideas of such major Muslim thinkers as al-Mawardi, al-Ghazali and Ibn Khaldun on the other.

In this course the centrality of peace in the metaphysical, juridical and political teachings of Islam is considered in relation to the nature and sources of conflict in human societies on the one hand, and the principles and modalities of conflict resolution which have been developed in Muslim societies and states on the other. The importance, principles and techniques of diplomacy in the context of Islamic government and statecraft are likewise reviewed.

24. IITC 6025/8025 Islamic Revivalism: Problems and Prospects

This course focuses on the principal reform and revival movements in the Arab World, Turkey, Iran, South and South-east Asia. The subject is studied in the wider context of the tradition of revival and reform which, rooted in the teachings of the Qur’an and the Prophet (saw) has, at different times and in various forms, encompassed the whole of the Muslim world from West Africa to Central Asia.

IITC 6000/IITC 8000 : Advanced English

IITC 6001/ IITC 8001 : Research Methodology and Thesis Writing

IITC 6002/IITC 8002 : The Qur’Én and The Sunnah: Foundations of Islamic Personality, Society and Culture

IITC 6003/IITC 8003 : Islamic Spiritual Ethics and Morality

IITC 6004/IITC 8004 : History of Islamic Economic Thought I

IITC 6005/IITC 8005 : History of Islamic Economic Thought II

IITC 6006/IITC 8006 : Oriental Philosophies

IITC 6007/IITC 8007 : Islam in Malay History and Culture

IITC 6009/IITC 8009 : The Philosophy of Modern Western Science and Technology

Entry Requirements

ISTAC is a postgraduate institute which offers Master (M.A.) degrees by research and course work, and Ph.D. by research only.

A. Basic Requirements:

Master’s Programme

a. A relevant Bachelor’s degree (honours) with good grades from IIUM or any other accredited institution of higher learning; or

b. Any other appropriate qualifications that are recognized as equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree (honours) by the Senate of IIUM.

Ph.D Programme

a. A relevant Master’s degree with good grades from IIUM or any other accredited institution of higher learning; or

b. Any other appropriate qualifications that are recognized as equivalent to a Master’s degree by the Senate of IIUM.

B. Language Requirements

B.1 English Language

1.1 Applicants are required to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the test administered by the International English Testing Services (IELTS) or IIUM administered English Placement Test (EPT) with the minimum required score or above as listed in the table below, to matriculate into the University as a regular student for a postgraduate programme.

1.2 Exemption from 1.1 may be given to those who have undertaken regular programmes of study and graduated from universities that use English as the medium of instruction in English – speaking countries or who have graduated from IIUM in a programme with English as the medium of instruction.

1.3 The required scores in TOEFL, IELTS and each of individual skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening of the EPT for entry into the university are as in the following table:

TYPES OF PROGRAMMES

MINIMUM TOEFL SCORE

MINIMUM IELTS/EPT SCORE

Ph.D and Master’s of English Language / Literature

600

7.0

Ph.D in Laws and Master of Comparative Laws

600

7.0

Ph.D and Master’s of Medical Sciences

600

7.0

Other Programmes with English as the medium of instruction and bilingual (English/Arabic) programmes

550

6.0

Ph.D and Master’s in Arabic Language / Literature

500 (entry requirement)

550 (graduation requirement)

5.0 (entry requirement)

6.0 (graduation requirement)

1.4 An offer of admission issued to an applicant who does not satisfy the conditions stipulated in article 1.3 shall remain valid for a period of two years. Should the applicant fail to attain the required scores in TOEFL, IELTS or EPT within this two years, the offer of admission shall be automatically withdrawn.

B.2 Arabic Language

Students whose research work requires knowledge of Arabic will be provided with the necessary tuition free of charge.

C. Other Languages

Students may be required to study (at their own expense unless the language is a requirement on advisor’s recommendation) one or more of the following languages depending on the nature and requirements of the respective programmes of study and research:

Chinese (Mandarin)

French

German

Greek

Hausa

Hebrew

Japanese

Latin

Malay/Indonesian

Persian

Swahili

Turkish

Tamil

Urdu

Other languages as may be relevant and appropriate. Where the language/s in question is/are not available in the University, students will find their own sources of instruction.

1.1 If deemed necessary, an applicant may be interviewed and/or required to sit for an entrance test in order to determine his eligibility for admission to a specific programme.

1.2 The department or kulliyyah may, with the approval of the University Committee for Postgraduate Studies (UCPS), require the applicant to satisfy additional conditions for admission to a specific programme.